Just to join the throng! Portsmouth Entrance

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fireball

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To the sailboat skipper exiting Portsmouth Harbour on Saturday ..

Look where you're going !!

You were already quite a way out in the channel - so much so that we had to pass shoreside of you else incur the wrath of the QHM volunteers - but once you're committed HOLD YOUR COURSE because I had nowhere to go when you decided to alter course for my midships ...

Oh - and when I point this out with a simple call "LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING" there is no reason to swear at me - swear by all means - but swear at your own stupidity...

You didn't spoil my day - did your anger spoil yours?
 
If everyone who had a near miss every weekend posted it here it'd need it's own section. Just the same as being on the road, there are d1ckheads everywhere and even the very best people sometimes make mistakes.
 
I wish the harbour entrance patrols would remind users of the Small Boat Channel that they should follow ColRegs Rule 9. They seem very keen to stop people straying out of the channel but appear to take no interest in the fact that people entering often get forced out of the channel by impatient idiots charging out in the centre of it.

Rule 9(a)

"A vessel proceeding along the course of a narrow channel or fairway shall keep as near to the outer limit of the channel or fairway which lies on her starboard side as is safe and practicable"
 
parsifal said:
They seem very keen to stop people straying out of the channel but appear to take no interest in the fact that people entering often get forced out of the channel by impatient idiots charging out in the centre of it.
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I think the QHM Volunteer patrol sometimes forget that their role is not to police but to advice and assist.
 
I have every sympathy for the OP. When entering Porstmouth Harbour you often find yourself faced with an idiot on the wrong side of the small ships channel and are presented with two choices; turn to starboard and face the wrath of QHM; or tun to port and put yourself in the wrong. Either way this problem is solely the fault of the idiot leaving the harbour who either does not understand that their is a small ships channel or or just too arrogant or stupid to keep to the right.
 
When I came out yesterday and turned to go down the inner swashway I was met by two powerboats coming towards me side by side on the inshore side of the inner swashway post. Perhaps the volunteer patrol should spend some time there offering advice. :rolleyes:
 
Robih said:
i'm so pleased that i'm no longer in the Solent.
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:) It would be nice to get out of it ...
jonjo5 said:
The power of the internet, name and shame...

That narrows it down a bit.
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yer - well I could say that it was an AWB and exited under motor with flapping main - sail had numbers 8, 1, 7 and a t - but iirc correctly there was another number in there ;)

Ex-SolentBoy said:
Clearly you had a bad day.
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Nope ... quite a nice day - but I was nodding off when the phone rang and during the conversation I heard about a yellow raggie ... ;)
 
G12 said:
Just the same as being on the road, there are d1ckheads everywhere and even the very best people sometimes make mistakes.
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Yup - we all make mistakes - a simple "Sorry" would've sufficed ... I (nor SWMBO) needed to be told to FO ...

Not very imaginative this chap - perhaps its because he was being braindead behind the wheel ...
 
We go in and out of Portsmouth a lot; I must say I've never been in a shouty swearing situation, though a chum who I think an even tempered bloke had a 'pro' fishing boat roar past above the speed limit causing slight injuries and damage, that quite rightly led to an official complaint to QHM.

I tend to just plan on avoiding collisions and being set up for 'going to sea' with hatches shut and a vice like grip on the tiller, not too bothered about 'who is right'; I know the colregs, but I remember this from an old PBO -

'Here lie the bones of Mike O'Day

Who died maintaining his right of way;

He was right, dead right, as he sailed along,

But now he's as dead as if he'd been wrong !


:)
 
Nothing to do with Right of Way ... it didn't bother me that he was out "in the channel" ...
what "bothered" me was that he decided that the place to be was in my midships ...

No need for a vice like grip on the tiller - or wheel for that matter ... you just need to be aware of your surroundings ... it seems someppl can't see past the bow ...
 
parsifal said:
I wish the harbour entrance patrols would remind users of the Small Boat Channel that they should follow ColRegs Rule 9. They seem very keen to stop people straying out of the channel but appear to take no interest in the fact that people entering often get forced out of the channel by impatient idiots charging out in the centre of it.

Rule 9(a)

"A vessel proceeding along the course of a narrow channel or fairway shall keep as near to the outer limit of the channel or fairway which lies on her starboard side as is safe and practicable"
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The challenge is that the existence of the SBC and this rule make it impossible for small boats to enter Portsmouth against the spring ebb. I know I have to break rule 9 and hug the shore coming in otherwise my 5hp outboard on the back of the boat would not get me in. I do however make my intention very clear to others and sometimes go between the shore and the red post at the side of Dolphin. A case of seamanship having to take precedence over Rule 9, which is obviously debatable but what choice does the SBC give us?

Any other harbour and you can hug the shore on whichever side of the channel complies with Rule 9, so no problem.
 
fireball said:
Nothing to do with Right of Way ... it didn't bother me that he was out "in the channel" ...
what "bothered" me was that he decided that the place to be was in my midships ...

No need for a vice like grip on the tiller - or wheel for that matter ... you just need to be aware of your surroundings ... it seems someppl can't see past the bow ...
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OK, it seems flippant remarks get taken seriously by some !

I make a point of resting a couple of fingers on the tiller of my boat usually, as anything more means I've got the trim wrong; I am very aware of my surroundings when on the boat, at Portsmouth or anywhere else, maybe a bit of experience has allowed me to see potential problems before things become unpleasant, it usually takes two to create an 'incident'. :rolleyes:
 
rb_stretch said:
A case of seamanship having to take precedence over Rule 9, which is obviously debatable but what choice does the SBC give us?
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Surely good seamanship would mean timing your entrance to coincide with the flood?

Years ago you were allowed to enter Portsmouth on the east side. I suppose it was stopped due to small craft getting in the way of ferries.
 
parsifal said:
Surely good seamanship would mean timing your entrance to coincide with the flood?
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Which would put an end to my sailing. I'm on a drying mooring in the harbour which means that I'm always entering on the ebb, unless I limit my sail to an hour only in the Solent.
 
parsifal said:
I wish the harbour entrance patrols would remind users of the Small Boat Channel that they should follow ColRegs Rule 9. They seem very keen to stop people straying out of the channel but appear to take no interest in the fact that people entering often get forced out of the channel by impatient idiots charging out in the centre of it.

Rule 9(a)

"A vessel proceeding along the course of a narrow channel or fairway shall keep as near to the outer limit of the channel or fairway which lies on her starboard side as is safe and practicable"
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The last word in rule 9 'practicable'.

It is not 'practicable' to fight the ebb on the starboard edge of the small boat channel.
Trying to do so is a major cause of crowding in the channel. If the lower powered boats got further into the shallows they would be through the narrows very much quicker and there would be much less conflict. Likewise some bigger boats would do well to use a little more throttle and make more pace over the ground, when circumstances allow. We often see a whole wodge of boats bottled up behind a loiterer, this is the most dangerous situation IMHO.
 
+1

Good observation, which makes me feel better about my approach to getting through :)

It seems that the majority of people generally seem ignorant of how the tide is influenced by the bottom depth. I've sometimes overtaken a faster boat from 500m behind because they doggedly stick to the deep water barely making any forward progress over the ground.
 
When outbound on the flood get as close to the piles on the Gosport side as you dare. It's where you should be anyway and you get a useful back eddy. I'm always amazed by the number of boats that aren't ready for the fierce cross tide around Fort Blockhouse on the flood and get carried sideways into the main channel.
 
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